Heat gun starts house fire

KATHRYN KING

Last updated 06:31 30/11/2012

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Minor renovations to a Kairanga home have resulted in the need for major redecoration after a paint-stripping tool started a fire.

Station officer Richard Harley, of Palmerston North fire station, said a resident of the Lockwood Rd house was using a ceramic heat gun to remove paint on the outside of the house when the fire started on Wednesday morning.

The resident did not realise for some time that something had started to smoulder behind the boards near the roof, but when he did, he attempted to put it out with a fire extinguisher.

By that time, however, the fire was under the roof of the house and was difficult to get to, Mr Harley said.

The fire ran through the roof and down into one of the rooms of the house. No-one was injured.

Firefighters were at the scene for four hours from 10.50am to ensure there was nothing smouldering in the insulation in the roof that could reignite the fire.

Two fire trucks and a water tanker were called to the scene initially, but a further two trucks were called to take over, Mr Harley said.

People needed to be vigilant when working with such tools, particularly when it was windy, and it was advisable to have a hose nearby, he said.